The pair seemed rather nervous when British border police asked the two German nationals what their reason for entering the UK was. They originally had planned to travel to Brussels, Robert B. (23) and Christian E. (28) told the police officers in Dover, the coastal town where they had arrived via ferry on July 15th. Plane tickets were too expensive, the two Germans said, so they decided to travel to London instead.

The police officers became suspicious and checked the luggage of both men. What they found was not really the usual tourist equipment: Jihadi propaganda material as documents and a laptop computer bearing an Al-Qaida flag as a sticker. Robert B. and Christian E. were arrested as terror suspects.

A few weeks later British prosecution accuses the two German converts of possessing material which can be used to build bombs and explosives and to plan terrorist attacks in the UK. Amongst the material found when B. and E. had entered the UK was a document titled “How to build a bomb in your Mom´s kitchen” – a article from the English-language Online magazine “Inspire” produced by Al-Qaida in Yemen. “44 Ways of supporting Jihad”, a essay by US-Yemeni cleric Anwar al-Awlaki was also part of the material in E. and B.´s possession.

In Solingen, a mid-size town in Western Germany, the Muslim community was shocked by the news of the two men´s arrest in Britain: Robert B. and Christian E. are both from Solingen.

Back in 2010 Robert B.´s mother had contacted the German Verfassungsschutz (Interior intelligence agency), told them about her son´s behavior. Robert, a shy and very friendly young boy, wanted to join the military when he was 17 and later successfully finished an apprenticeship. Soon after came in contact with Salafi Islam. Robert´s father had died a few years ago, his mother tells, only three days before his 13th birthday. Within Solingen´s Salafi community the White convert found new friends and an environment he was happy in. That was in January 2009.

“He only talked about paradise, about infidels going to hell and that I should wear a burqa”, Robert´s mother says. Her son began wearing long robes, reading the Quran and was regularly visiting mosques and lectures by fellow convert and Salafi preacher Pierre Vogel. Week after week Robert B. who called himself “Abdel Rahman” was not sleeping at home in his bed but instead spent nights in the mosque.

There he had met another White convert, Christian E. aka “Abdul Malik” , who had converted to Islam back in 2003. E., a blonde and blue-eyed 28 year-old man, who loves ice hockey and Rap music, was a well-known figure in the radical Salafi community, somebody keeping a low-profile but was known to German counter-terrorism. As the two befriended, both converts were monitored because of their behavior. My sources say B. and E. were known supporters of Jihad, and also important figures within Germany´s Islamist community regarding travels to the Pakistani terror camps.

B. and E. traveled to the Middle East themselves last year. In Egypt the converts planned to learn Arabic. Due to the political unrest and serious money issues both of them returned to Germany earlier this year.

In one of the mosques in Solingen Robert B. and Christian E. visited the Friday prayers on a regular basis. Very often both of them stayed after the lecture, sitting in the mosque with their laptops, talking to other Muslims and the Imams. The mosque leaders remember the converts as nice and pretty calm people, not talking about politics or Jihad openly.

“One day, police showed up”, a mosque official told me, “they told me Abdul Malik and Abdel Rahman were in contact with dangerous people. I should not let them infiltrate the community. So I decided to ask them to leave the mosque and they did without protesting.”

Christian E. was living at various places in Solingen before moving to a different mosque (“Masjid Ar-Rahman”) where his name even appeared on the mailbox. It seems like the Salafi mosque “Deutsch-Islamistes Zentrum” in the North of Solingen became his home before he travelled to Britain in July.

Still unknown is the reason for the convert´s journey to England. It is very likely one or both of them have been in touch with Islamists in the UK, possibly via Facebook. In recent months the connection between UK and German Islamists has grown stronger, mainly through the cooperation of Salafi Media. Question remains why Robert B. and Christian E. did not even try to hide the propaganda material they were importing to the UK.

The father of Christian E. says his son is not a terrorist. All material found in Christian´s luggage “is freely available on the Internet by everyone”, he says. According to British Anti-Terror Laws the possession of material that can be used to plan and carry out a terrorist attack is a crime that can lead to several years in prison.

Up to August 24th both Germans are held in custody at Belmarsh Prison in London. The next hearing is scheduled in the coming days. During the first hearing back in July, Christian E. and Robert B. did refuse to rise for the judge and instead told the court they would only submit themselves to Allah.

A lawyer from Solingen is now trying to get access to Robert B.. He says he will try to visit the arrested terror suspect, who is held in single detention and is under constant survaillance, together with B.´s mother next week. The lawyer fears a long prison term if Robert B. is sentenced in the UK. Therefore he is planning to get him sent back to Germany so he can be put on trial there.

They are the first glimpse at what US intelligence officials describe as a “treasure trove”, the largest amount of documents, video and picture material found in a single counter-terrorism raid in years – 2.7 terrabytes of data found inside Osama Bin Laden´s hideout in the Pakistani city of Abbottabad, giving a rare insight look into Al-Qaida´s leadership.

Last week, the Pentagon released five videos which were among those found inside the Bin Laden compound, all showing the late Al-Qaida leader prior to his death, watching TV or preparing for the recording of a video message. All audio data of the videos was erased by the US authorities, so none of the videos given to the media actually has any sound.

While the media focussed primarly on one video – the unusual footage of the elderly, grey-bearded terrorist leader sitting on the ground, a blanket wrapped around his shoulders, surfing through Arabic TV channels, obviously watching news about himself and his terrorist network – the most interesting of the newly released “Bin Laden Home-Videos” is not the raw footage but the apparently ready-for-release video speech by the Al-Qaida founder.

It appears to be a message by Bin Laden that has already underwent the final editing process of As-Sahab Media, Al-Qaida´s propaganda wing, bearing the usual intro and the As-Sahab logo in the lower right corner of the screen. Osama Bin Laden is seen sitting on a table, wearing a golden robe and a white turban. His beard was obviously dyed in a darker color. The whole scene is very similar to the last two officially released Bin Laden tapes in 2004 and 2007.

The 2007 video message titled “The Solution”, was released by Al-Qaida´s As-Sahab Media on the anniversary of the September 11th attacks and featured Bin Laden also with a dark-colored beard, sitting at a table with a golden-lavish robe.

In 2004, only a few days prior the US Presidential Elections, Al-Jazeera aired a blurry Bin Laden video message in which the Al-Qaida leader also wore the same robe and a white turban. Back then, his beard was not dyed but greyish, making Bin Laden look quiet older compared to the following and since then only other video message in 2007.

Question is: What do we know about what appears to be the last recorded video message of the most-wanted man alive? The intro of the now Pentagon-owned tape simply reads “From Osama Bin Laden to the American People” – a title used in earlier messages. Apart from Bin Laden himself talking no other images are seen. In the As-Sahab “closing” of the tape, a date and a statement is given, saying the tape was made in 1431 a.H. – meaning probably in 2010 according to the Gregorian calender. The Arabic closing statement of the 6 minutes and 40 seconds tape reads: “Either we live under Islam or we die a generous death”.

So what could be the topic Bin Laden talks about in this tape? Why was the video if recorded last year, not released since then? Why is the US government not releasing the content of the Bin Laden speech to the American people?

A) – the video was made in 2010 but Bin Laden himself or the As-Sahab staff decided not to release it – maybe because they thought it could harm the secret life and hideout of the Al-Qaida leader or because they realized actually footage was not necessary to deliver the message and instead they released an audio tape of the speech

B) – the message is not a specific one dealing with an current event like a hostage taking in North Africa, the US drone campaign, the parcel bomb plot or other developments that happened last year but a very universal statement – that can be released at any time, for example a speech where Bin Laden talks about his own death.

C) – the Bin Laden speech deals with a very specific event and the Al-Qaida founder talks about for example: the parcel bomb plot by Al-Qaida in the Arabian Peninsula. The attacks failed in October 2010 but maybe Bin Laden recorded the tape in case the bomb successfully exploded in the United States

D) – the video message could be one recorded as a claim of responsibility for an attack that was not yet carried out for example: the alleged “Euro-Plot”

Until the Pentagon releases a transcript or the audio of the video, Al-Qaida releases the tape or a US official says in a statement what Bin Laden talks about, we will not find out what his final tape was about.

The fact that it seems to be ready for release until the US Special Forces got hold of it, could very well mean the As-Sahab distributors, those releasing the propaganda to the Internet forums, are already in possession of the tape. A Pentagon statement after the Abbottabad raid said, it is likely a new tape of Bin Laden will appear soon as he recorded one shortly before his death. It contains the usual propaganda, the Pentagon said, so it shouldn´t be a surprise for the public.

Al-Qaida itself highlighted in the eulogy statement to its Amir, that a message of Bin Laden, recorded in the week before he was killed, will be released soon, also dealing with the events in North Africa.

A few weeks ago I interviewed Michael Scheuer, the former head of the CIA´s “Alec-Station” known as the “Bin Laden-Unit”. I asked him why since 2007 there was no new video apprearence of the Al-Qaida leader. Scheuer´s answer was mainly his own opinion but still a very interesting thought:

“The one thing Bin Laden knows that we have long since forgotten: there is power in silence. I suspect we keep getting audios, there won´t be a video till he attacks again in the United States. After that occurs we get a video in which he talks to the American people in sorrow rather than anger, saying: I warned you about this.”